Thursday, January 18, 2007

MarocPost proves it's a dorkus-macorcas

A mystery Western Sahara fan likes to send me articles from MarocPost, a Moroccan website that's reasonable as long as it's not covering the Western Sahara. When it is, though, you can bet it's a chopped-up government press release. For example, MarocPost has run articles about Western Sahara's terrorist links, and always calls the occupied territories Southern Morocco.

I read MarocPost all the time, though, because it's hilarious. Whether it's denouncing Sahrawis for making time with communists and Islamic extremists, or calling Polisario President Mohammed Abdelaziz "al-Marrekechi,"MarocPost has more conspiracies than Art Bell.

Anyway, I'm involved in a rumble on MarocPost after reading this article. The article, which claims to be written by a disinterested foreigner named J.H. Benjamin, proposes to examine whether Polisario or CORCAS really represents Sahrawis. J.H. quickly dispenses with Polisario, though, and devotes the rest of the article to CORCAS, noble organization that it is.

First of all, I don't think J.H. is real, or at least foreign. How often do you read essays from native English speakers where every sentence ends with an exclamation mark?

I posted the usual stuff ("Where are the non-Moroccan sources? If Morocco thinks Sahrawis all want integration, why not have a referendum?" &c.) When I do that on View from Fez, usually no one answers. But MarocPost isn't View from Fez, which is too bad, because View From Fez rocks. Check out the comments for the argument. Here are the highlights.

They call me Hisham and Hiree. Are those Algerian names?

"If you persist it won't be good for you guys."

"You know what BODYBOY Sommer, you can run but you can not hide!"

Whacky.

UPDATE: Everybody calm down, the article must be legitimate. Through a highly-placed Moroccan informer, I've obtained a picture of Mr. Benjamin, pictured reading his article here.

Worth pointing out that articles which accept one's own state's position on foreign policy issues is hardly unusual. Compare American discourse about Iraq which accepts almost accross the board that America's intentions were good, even if the implementation was a bit iffy.

Not that that makes it any better. Just saying.

BTW Are you on Facebook. There are several Western Sahara support groups, although most are pretty small.

I think Polisario is fundamentally a good organization, but that they've become ossified and, although I have no hard evidence of this, probably corrupt. I wish Abdelaziz would step down in favor of someone new, but he might be the only with enough legitimacy among Sahrawis to accept a diplomatic resolution.

Kid, you're right that each side has its crazy articles. I just find it weird that Moroccan media relentlessly publishes stuff like this that entirely ignores international evidence to the contrary. Whenever I ask them for a non-Moroccan source that supports what they say, they clam up.

I am on Facebook, actually, and I'm an admin on the largest Western Sahara Facebook group, Free the Western Sahara (it has about 157 members, which is 6 less than Sahara is Moroccan unfortunately). Send me a friend request.